Dear Sister Hoth: You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Canada Vancouver Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months. You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, February 18, 2015. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish Language.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Mon, May 25, 2015 The Will of the Father

Hola mi familia y mis amigos,

Wow!! Esta semana fue una semana a recordar! Hermana Johnson and I have worked so hard this week! We truly know that the Lord will bless us as we give it all we've got! We have been really trying to use the most of our time, which means talking to literally everyone we see. We have seen so many miracles this week as we have been faithful and diligent!

One of my favorite things this week was the opportunity we had to have a mini missionary. We were chosen last minute to have a mini missionary, one of the youth from the stake, to be a missionary for a couple days! We got Hermana Moro, who is actually in our ward! Oh man, she is a hoot. There were so many funny experiences with her! The first one was after talking to people at Surrey Central, we were just pulling out of the parking lot. Then we notice that this car is following us. So we stopped and watched this man get out of his car. We see him reach into his pocket and start running toward our car. Haha, while this is going on, Hermana Moro is freaking out and yelling, "Ah, what is that man doing? Hurry drive away! Drive away!" And I guess that is where missionaries and everyone else differs. Hermana Johnson and I were so thrilled that someone was actually approaching us instead of us having to go up to them. So we hurried and stopped the car and rolled down the window. The man turned out to be someone we visited. Backstory: One night we were out looking for one of our potential investigators and we knocked on the wrong door. So this man answers and invites us right in. His family is from Iraq and was so incredibly pleasant! They gave us interesting cookies and we had a great conversation about the gospel. Well anyways, this man was so excited to see his friends again! So he came up with a huge smile on his face and handed us his business card. Haha I think Hermana Moro almost had a heart attack!

Then the next funny story happened when we were in a lesson with Rita! We were talking about prayer and then all the sudden Rita gets up and leaves. She came back quickly and apologized for having to get a drink of water. She said that all the sudden she had a sharp pain in her chest. Hermana Moro hears that and then goes off about how "that pain that she felt was the Holy Ghost and that's how we can know if all of what we're saying is true." She went on and on and shared a really powerful testimony about the Spirit. (It was awesome) and to end it she asked Rita, "Is this the feeling that you felt?" Rita just stared at her for a long time and finally said, "No." Hermana Johnson and I were dying. It was so awkward and so funny!

Hermana Hoth & Hermana Johnson, MAKE A WISH!

Oh man, so we have had so many miracles this week. The first one was with our investigator, Tania. She is so solid, but she hasn't come to church yet. She says that she wants it to be a family thing, but her family really hasn't shown any interest...at least hadn't until this week! When we arrived at Tania's, her son, Oscar, was there and decided that he wanted to join us. So instead of giving the lesson we had planned, we taught the Restoration. I absolutely know that he felt the Spirit. He was so engaged in the lesson and had so many amazing questions that lead perfectly into the next thing we were going to talk about. It was incredible, Tania was so excited to have her son be listening to us. She loved helping us explain things and telling us to show certain pictures from the pamphlets at different spots in the lesson. Oscar hearing the words of Joseph Smith's first vision. He told us after that he had no doubt that Joseph saw God and Jesus Christ. I wish I could explain the joy and the Spirit I felt as I watched Tania share the gospel with her son and as he accepted it all. I know that the Spirit can touch any heart...it's by the Spirit that we know truth. I felt the Spirit so strong when Oscar paused after hearing the first vision and just said, "Wow!". But wait, that's not the end of this miracle! When we started talking about the Book of Mormon, Tania's daughter came in the room. In the past, Stephanie has always interrupted our lessons to ask her mom a question, but this time for some reason she stayed. She had some tricky questions for us, but we were able to answer them because we were guided by the Spirit. At the end of the lesson all three of them, Tania, Oscar, and Stephanie all committed to reading the Book of Mormon. I'm so excited for this family to have the gospel in their lives. It truly does change lives. I hope that all of you will allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to change and shape your lives!

Because of our goal to be diligent, Hermana Johnson and I called through everyone in our area book and in our old planners to see if anyone would be interested in learning more. We came across one of the people we met during our first transfer, his name is Jessie. We met him on the street and he told us all about how he wants to change his life and have a clean start. He was so sincere and truly wanted to change. He told us that he would be moving to the island to start all over. We remembered passing him off to the missionaries over there, but we decided to call him anyway. He was so touched that we had been praying for him and remember him. He told us that the missionaries hadn't been in contact with him, so after our conversation we told the missionaries over there again to call him. It was incredible, the elders on the island had a lesson with him and now he has a baptismal date. And another miracle similar to that. We found a man named Jorge who had been in contact with the church for a long time, but he couldn't ever meet with us. So we passed him off to the the Spanish elders and they met with him yesterday. He has a baptismal date too! There are so many miracles!

One quick story...so our favorite people to talk to are Sikh people. They never understand us but they always get the biggest smiles on their face when we talk to them! This Sikh man came up to Hermana Johnson and me yesterday. He had the biggest, toothless grin I've ever seen. He kept pointing at Hermana Johnson's hair, saying, "Goo Hai" or good hair!;) Haha

A blast from the past with Hermana Johnson & Hermana Cobb

This morning I was studying in Mosiah 15. And something stood out to me that hasn't ever stood out before. In verse 7, it says, "the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father." I love that. My mission in life is to become one with God. I want to be one in purpose, one in desire, and I want His will to be my will. It's amazing to me that even the Lord, who had perfect intent, had His will swallowed up by the Father. Our earthly will or design must be swallowed up in the Father's will in order for us to be one with God. In the beginning of the verse it explains all of the sufferings that Christ had to go through. It's the same with us...we go through so much heartache, trial, and temptation in this life...and all of it is to help us align our will with the Father's. The next verse explains all of the miracles that came from the Lord aligning His will with the Father's. I absolutely know that we can do the same. We can change, we can become better, and we can see miracles. Those miracles come as we recognize the Father's will for us! I invite all of you to read the Book of Mormon and find out what God's will is for you! I love to think of the Book of Mormon as a road map for our lives! As you follow His will perfectly, you will see miracles!! I love you all and thanks for all of your support!